TACLOBAN CITY - Agrarian reform beneficiaries in Eastern Visayas have received assistance from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to help them with their farming needs.
The Canmarating, Odiongan, Pagsang-an, Sulpa Irrigators Association (COPS-IA) and the Barangay Agutayan Farmers Association (BAFA) received a six-wheeler hauling truck and deshelling machines, respectively, under the Sustainable and Resilient Agrarian Reform Communities (SuRe ARCs) project.
The assistance was turned over by Director Ronald Gareza of the Bureau of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Development (BARBD) at DAR Central Office, representing Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III, during a ceremony held at the DAR Regional Office in Tacloban City on March 27.
According to Gareza, the SuRe ARCs project was implemented to finance projects for rice, corn, and coconut areas. The project aims to make agrarian reform beneficiaries organizations (ARBOs) self-sufficient and competent enough to handle at least 50 hectares of plantation to engage in a successful business.
COPS-IA, which covers 181 hectares of rice fields, received a six-wheeler hauling truck worth ₱1.999 million from the ARF, while BAFA received four units of deshelling machines worth ₱600 thousand for their copra business.
Alumbro, the president of COPS-IA, expressed his gratitude to the President and the DAR for the assistance they have received. He stated that their dream has now become a reality with the help of the present administration.
Meanwhile, BAFA president Vicenta Jaray said that they are happy to receive assistance from the DAR, especially now that labor costs are high. She also mentioned that the hauling truck would be a great help in their coconut farming as the previous trucks could not enter their farm area.
Gareza also revealed that ₱7.5 billion had been earmarked under the ARF to implement the SuRe ARCs project for this year. The initial recipients of the project in Eastern Visayas are COPS-IA and BAFA.
Gareza advised COPS-IA to convert into a cooperative to engage in rice trading business. He also stressed that the SuRe ARCs project aims to make ARBOs competent and self-sufficient in handling their plantations to engage in successful business ventures. —iTacloban (Source: DAR-8)